Soldier killed in Jammu; Army rules out terror angle

Jammu, Sep 02: An Army man was killed at a military station here on Monday, a defence spokesman said, ruling out any terror angle after the firing sparked an alert and a massive house-to-house search in the area.

According to officials, Naik Kuldeep Singh of Punjab was on guard duty when he was hit by a bullet in the head at Sunjawan Military Station on the outskirts of Jammu and was evacuated to a hospital where he succumbed to injuries.

“Initial investigations by the Indian Army suggest that the incident in which a soldier lost his life in the morning is not a terror attack. The incident is being investigated,” a defence spokesman said. Sources said that the preliminary probe indicated that the soldier committed suicide.

Earlier in the day, the spokesperson said a few rounds were fired at the military station at around 10.50 am, resulting in critical injuries to a soldier.

An operation had been launched and further details were being ascertained, he said.

A Special Operation Group of local police along with other teams rushed to the scene to join the army in a massive search operation as a terror attack was suspected. However, nothing suspicious was found during the search operation which continued for hours together with all entry and exit points to the adjoining areas plugged.

Drones and sniffer dogs were also used during the thorough search of the area.

In February 2018, the terrorists attacked the Sunjawan military camp resulting in the killing of six soldiers, a civilian and three terrorists.

Talking to reporters at the site earlier on Monday, Superintendent of Police (South) Ajay Sharma said that two gunshots were heard at a post, resulting in injuries to a soldier.

“The probe is on (to ascertain the cause of the firing. Senior officers are on the spot,” he said.